Panel for a motor vehicle

ABSTRACT

A panel, preferably made of plastic, for a vehicle, in particular for a motor vehicle comprises a U-shaped passage for the reception of a seal which has a first sealing lip which contacts a first limb of the U-shaped passage in an uninterrupted manner and comprises a second sealing lip which contacts the second limb of the U-shaped passage. To improve the sealing effect, the second sealing lip contacts the second limb of the U-shaped passage in an uninterrupted manner.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 102009 031 005.3, entitled “Panel for a Motor Vehicle”, filed Jun. 29,2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a panel or to another trim part for avehicle, in particular for a motor vehicle.

The panel may be made of plastic. It has a U-shaped passage which servesthe reception of a seal. The seal is introducible or introduced into theU-shaped passage. The U-shaped passage is outwardly open. It includes abase, a first limb and a second limb. The limbs are disposed oppositeone another. The base connects the two limbs. It is sufficient if thepassage is essentially of U-shape.

The seal has a first sealing lip which is contactable or contacts afirst limb of the U-shaped passage in an uninterrupted manner and has asecond sealing lip which is contactable or contacts the second limb ofthe U-shaped passage.

A panel in accordance with the preamble of claim 1 is known from DE 20201 528 U1. DE 197 41 538 A1 shows a similar panel.

A frame system for windows of a motor vehicle which includes an outerframe and a shaped inner frame is comprised by DE 601 23 854 T2. Theouter frame receives a shaped guide rail having a U-shapedcross-section, with the guide rail having sealing lips at its outerside.

US 2002/0184826 A1 discloses a seal for a movable window glass of amotor vehicle door in which a U-shaped seal is located in an L-shapedframe part.

It is the object of the present disclosure to improve the sealing effectof the seal in such a panel.

This object is solved in accordance with the present disclosure by apanel, which may be made of plastic, for a vehicle, in particular for amotor vehicle, having a U-shaped passage for the reception of a sealwhich has a first sealing lip which contacts a first limb of theU-shaped passage in an uninterrupted manner. The second sealing lipcontacts the second limb of the U-shaped passage in an uninterruptedmanner. The second sealing lip hereby forms an uninterrupted sealingline. The second sealing lip furthermore exerts an uninterruptedpressure onto the first sealing lip, whereby the sealing effect of thefirst sealing lip is also improved.

It is advantageous if the panel is closed between the sealing lips. Inparticular no openings are present in the panel between the sealinglips. It is hereby ensured that moisture, in particular water, inparticular driving rain or water in a car wash and/or from ahigh-pressure cleaner, which are not held back by the first sealing lipcan be caught by the second sealing lip without them being able to passthrough openings present in the panel in this manner. The sealing lipsalso seal acoustically; they protect against external acousticinfluences, in particular against airflow, external noises and/or windnoise.

A further advantageous further development is that a limb of theU-shaped passage has holding ribs spaced apart from one of the sealinglips. It is also possible that only one holding rib is present. It is,however, more favorable if a plurality of holding ribs, in particularshort holding ribs, are provided. The holding ribs may be on a line,with this line also being able to be bent or curved. The holding ribsare located outside the sealing lip, that is, at a point of the limb ofthe U-shaped passage which is spaced apart from the support point of thesealing lip in the outward direction. The seal can be supported at theholding ribs. It is advantageous if a corresponding holding lip which issupported at the holding ribs is present at the seal.

In accordance with a further advantageous further development, theholding ribs are provided at the rims of openings in the limb of theU-shaped passage. The holding ribs are located at the outer rims of theopenings.

The spacing of the holding ribs from the oppositely disposed limb of theU-shaped passage is larger than or equal to the spacing of the outerrims of the openings from the oppositely disposed limb of the U-shapedpassage. To achieve this, a step can be provided in the limb of theU-shaped passage in which the openings are located. An undercut in thepanel is avoided by the mentioned spacing ratio, which in particularfacilitates the manufacture of the panel from plastic in a plasticinjection molding process.

A further advantageous further development is characterized in that aholding lip is provided at the seal and contacts the inner side of thesecond limb of the panel.

It is advantageous if the holding lip contacts the holding ribs of thesecond limb of the panel. An embodiment of the present disclosure willbe explained in detail in the following drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a part of a panel for a motor vehicle in a perspectiverepresentation.

FIG. 2 shows a section along the line A-A in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a section along the line B-B in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows an enlarged detail from FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a panel 1 made of plastic for a motor vehicle. The panelincludes, as can also be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, a U-shaped passage 2which receives a seal 3. In one example, the U-shaped passage may beformed as a channel. The U-shaped passage 2 includes a first limb 4 anda second limb 5 which are connected to one another by a base 6. Thefirst limb 4 is formed by an extension of the cover part 7 of the panel1. The outer surface 8 of the cover part 7 and of the first limb 4 formsthe visible surface of the panel which is visible to the outside whenthe panel 1 is fastened to the motor vehicle, as is shown in FIGS. 2 and3.

The second limb 5 is fastened to the metal car body panels 9 or tocorresponding metal door panels, and indeed by a screw or by a rivet orby a similar fastening element whose fastening axis is marked by 10.

The seal 3 has a first sealing lip 11 which contacts the first limb 4 ofthe U-shaped passage 2 in an uninterrupted manner. The seal 3furthermore has a second sealing lip 12 which likewise contacts thesecond limb 5 of the U-shaped passage 2 in an uninterrupted manner.

A holding rib 13, which extends into the U-shaped passage 2 and whichcontacts the first sealing lip 11, is provided at the inner side of thefirst limb 4. The holding rib 13 serves for the holding of the firstsealing lip 11.

The panel 1 is closed between the sealing lips 11, 12. No openings arepresent in the panel in this region which is formed by a part of thefirst limb 4, by the base 6 and by a part of the second limb 5. Moistureand/or noise which penetrate from the outside are held back by the firstsealing lip 11. If a small portion of the moisture or of the noiseovercomes the first sealing lip 11 it moves along the base 6 to thesecond sealing lip 12, where it is finally held back. Since the panel 1is closed on the path from the first sealing lip 11 to the secondsealing lip 12, moisture and/or noise cannot penetrate inwardly into thevehicle in this way.

The seal 3 likewise has a substantially U shape. The first limb 13′ ofthe seal 3 contacts the inner side of the first limb 4 of the panel 1.The base 14 of the seal 3 extends in the region of the base 6 of thepanel 1. The second limb 15 of the seal 3 extends substantially parallelto the second limb 5 of the panel 1. The first sealing lip 11 contactsthe connection point of the first limb 13′ and of the base 14 of theseal 3. The second sealing lip 12 is located at the connection point ofthe base 14 and of the second limb 15 of the seal 3.

A holding lip 16 is provided at the second limb 15 of the seal 3. Theholding lip 16 faces outwardly from the second limb 15, that is, towardthe second limb 5 of the panel 1. It contacts the inner side of thesecond limb 5 of the panel.

As can in particular be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3, openings 17 areprovided in the second limb 5 of the panel 1. The holes 17 aresubstantially on one line. Holding ribs 18 are provided at the rims ofthe openings 17. The holding ribs 18 are located at the outer rims ofthe openings 17, that is, at the rims of the openings 17 remote from thebase 6. The holding ribs 18 project upwardly from the plane of thesecond limb 5, that is, into the U-shaped passage 2.

The openings 17 are spaced apart from the base 6 of the panel 1. Theopenings 17 and the holding ribs 18 are located outside the secondsealing lip 12, that is, at a point of the second limb 5 which is spacedapart from the support point 19 of the second sealing lip 12 in theoutward direction, as can in particular be seen from FIG. 3. It ishereby ensured that the second sealing lip 12 can contact the supportpoint 19 in an uninterrupted manner. The second sealing lip 12 can thusdevelop an unrestricted sealing effect over its total length.Furthermore, a pressure is generated on the seal 3 by the support of thesecond sealing lip 12, said pressure acting along its base 14 up to thefirst sealing lip 11 and pressing it toward the first limb 4 of thepanel 1 in an uninterrupted manner.

The holding lip 16 of the seal 3 contacts the holding ribs 18 of thesecond limb 5 of the panel 1. It is supported at these holding ribs 18and holds the seal 3 in the U-shaped passage 2 in this manner.

As can in particular be seen from FIG. 3, the spacing of the holdingribs 18 from the oppositely disposed first limb 4 of the U-shapedpassage 2 is larger than the spacing of the inner rims of the openings17 from the oppositely disposed first limb 4 of the panel 1. The innerrim of the respective opening 17 is in this respect formed by the outerend of the support point 19. It is ensured by the mentioned spacingrelationship that the slider of the injection molding mold for the panelcan be moved out of the U-shaped passage 2, with this movement takingplace in the direction to the right in the representation of FIGS. 2 and3. In this direction, no undercut is formed by the mentioned spacingrelationship which could impede the outward movement of the slider.

Furthermore, it can be achieved by this spacing relationship that thecore 20 of the injection molding tool generating the openings 17 doesnot impede the mold removal of the plastic panel, as shown in FIG. 4. Inthe injection molding process, the core 20 is located where the openings17 are formed.

A step 21 which forms a vertical difference between the outer region ofthe second limb 5 and its inner region is provided for the generation ofthe mentioned spacing relationship in the second limb 5 of the panel 1.The holding ribs 18 are located in the outer region and the supportpoint 19 is located in the inner region. The support point 19 is closerthan the outer region of the second limb 5 to the oppositely disposedfirst limb 4.

A panel made of plastic is provided by the present disclosure which hasa passage for the reception of a seal. The seal is held in shape-matchedmanner in the panel. Two sealing lips contact the inner side of thereception passage in an uninterrupted manner in each case. They form twothroughgoing sealing lines in this manner. The panel has no openingsbetween the two sealing lips. A holding lip is furthermore shaped at theseal and is supported at the rims of openings in the panel. A step isshaped in the limb of the panel in which the openings are provided sothat the second sealing lip and the holding lip can be disposed ondifferent planes, whereby an undercut in the tool is avoided. FIGS. 2and 3 show a horizontal section through a drop window seal. The windowis framed by the U-shaped opening of the seal 3. The window is, however,not shown graphically.

1. A panel, for a vehicle, having a U-shaped passage for reception of aseal which has a first sealing lip which contacts a first limb of theU-shaped passage in an uninterrupted manner and having a second sealinglip which contacts a second limb of the U-shaped passage, wherein thesecond sealing lip contacts the second limb of the U-shaped passage inan uninterrupted manner.
 2. The panel in accordance with claim 1,wherein the panel is closed between the sealing lips.
 3. The panel inaccordance with claim 2, wherein the U-shaped passage is formed as aU-shaped channel, and wherein a limb of the U-shaped channel has holdingribs spaced apart from one of the sealing lips.
 4. The panel inaccordance with claim 3, wherein the holding ribs are provided at rimsof openings in one of the limbs of the U-shaped passage.
 5. The panel inaccordance with claim 4, wherein a spacing of the holding ribs from anoppositely disposed limb of the U-shaped passage is larger than or equalto a spacing of inner rims of the openings from the oppositely disposedlimb of the U-shaped passage.
 6. The panel in accordance with claim 1,wherein a holding lip which contacts an inner side of the second limb ofthe panel is provided at the seal.
 7. The panel in accordance with claim6, wherein the holding lip contacts holding ribs of the second limb ofthe panel.
 8. The panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein the panel ismade of plastic, and wherein the vehicle is a motor vehicle, wherein thepanel further includes openings in the second limb, but has no openingsbetween the two sealing lips.
 9. An article of manufacture, comprising:a panel made of plastic, the panel including a U-shaped channel withinner sides formed by first and second limbs, the panel furtherincluding openings; a seal positioned in the channel, the seal receivedin shape-matched manner in the channel, the seal including first andsecond sealing lips contacting inner sides of the first and secondlimbs, respectively, in an uninterrupted manner in each case, thecontacts respectively forming two throughgoing sealing lines across atotal length of the channel, wherein the panel has no openings betweenthe two sealing lips, the seal further including a holding lip supportedat rims of the openings in the panel.
 10. The article of claim 9,wherein the openings are provided in the second limb of the panel. 11.The article of claim 10, wherein a step is shaped in the second limb ofthe panel so that the second sealing lip and the holding lip aredisposed on different planes.
 12. An article of manufacture, comprising:a plastic door panel of a motor vehicle including a U-shaped passage forreception of a seal which has a first sealing lip which contacts a firstlimb of the U-shaped passage in an uninterrupted manner and having asecond sealing lip which contacts a second limb of the U-shaped passage,wherein the second sealing lip contacts the second limb of the U-shapedpassage in an uninterrupted manner, each of the sealing lips contactingrespective limbs to form respective unrestricted sealing over theirrespective total lengths.
 13. The panel in accordance with claim 12,wherein the panel is closed between the sealing lips.
 14. The panel inaccordance with claim 13, wherein the U-shaped passage is formed as aU-shaped channel, and wherein a limb of the U-shaped channel has holdingribs spaced apart from one of the sealing lips.
 15. The panel inaccordance with claim 14, wherein the holding ribs are provided at rimsof openings in one of the limbs of the U-shaped passage.
 16. The panelin accordance with claim 15, wherein a spacing of the holding ribs froman oppositely disposed limb of the U-shaped passage is larger than orequal to a spacing of inner rims of the openings from the oppositelydisposed limb of the U-shaped passage.
 17. The panel in accordance withclaim 16, wherein a holding lip which contacts an inner side of thesecond limb of the panel is provided at the seal.
 18. The panel inaccordance with claim 17, wherein the holding lip contacts holding ribsof the second limb of the panel.